MEDFORD, Ore. — Oregon OSHA has proposed a fine against Grace Cascade Christian High School for alleged violations of the state’s coronavirus restrictions. The citation was issued on December 4 by the state agency, which has taken the lead in enforcing Governor Kate Brown’s executive orders concerning COVID-19. According to an OSHA report, an inspector visited the high school on November 20. The inspector noted two “serious” violations — first, that the school was open in spite of the Oregon Department of Education’s requirements from the end of September through November, when Jackson County case rates were prohibitively high; and…
Author: Tony Cooper
MEDFORD, Ore. — KOBI The Jackson County Emergency Operations Center is providing new details about clean up efforts surrounding the Almeda Fire. John Vial with the Emergency Operations Center says setting up mobile home parks and finding transitional housing is in progress. He says 256 people still need direct housing. Vial says step one of the clean-up process, making sure all sites have no toxic waste, is finished and now sites can be cleaned up. “There is 2 major contracting efforts that the state is doing, the first is tree removal, the state has issued 6 contracts with 3 different…
MEDFORD, Ore.- Jackson County Public Health reports 47 new COVID-19 cases as of 12:01 am on December 20, 2020. Additionally, one case was removed from the total case count that had a previous reporting date. These updates bring the total reported COVID-19 cases in Jackson County to 5,310. How the COVID-19 Vaccine Will Be Distributed: COVID-19 vaccines are 95% effective and have undergone rigorous safety testing. Vaccination gives us hope that the pandemic will end. Our best protection from COVID-19 will be a combination of getting a COVID-19 vaccine, wearing a mask, staying at least 6 feet away from others, avoiding crowds,…
MEDFORD, Ore. – Hoping for the best, the Oregon Cabaret Theatre in Ashland has announced its planned performance schedule for 2021. The season opener, assuming the Covic-19 pandemic allows, will “The Spitfire Grill, which was set to premiere last April but wasn’t performed before it could open. It is scheduled to run Feb. 25 through April 18. “Spitfire” focuses on Percy, a just released from prison parolee who arrives in a small Wisconsin town and finds herself a job working at Hannah’s Spitfire Grill, the only eatery in a struggling town. The grill is for sale but there are no…
MEDFORD, Ore. — One of two Idaho men who walked away from a small plane crash in a Medford neighborhood last summer has admitted to marijuana charges related to thousands of dollars worth of concentrated marijuana extract seized after the crash. Zachary Moore, 36, pleaded guilty last week in U.S. District Court in Medford to having large quantities of hash oil with intent to distribute the drug, The Mail Tribune reported. Moore admitted that he and his alleged co-conspirator Mathew Wayne Thompson bought over 5-1/2 pounds of butane honey oil June 8, 2019, the same day as the Beech 35…
OREGON – A Marion County Grand Jury ruled that three state troopers and a deputy were justified in shooting and killing an armed robbery suspect after a chase along Highway 22 earlier this month. The law enforcement officers fatally shot 27-year-old Brad Masters on December 8. Masters was accused of robbing both a Dutch Brothers and a Dominoes location in Bend, Oregon at gunpoint before stealing a car from one of the pizza shop employees, the Marion County District Attorney’s Office said. The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office pursued Masters, who sped off west along Highway 22 toward the Santiam Pass. They…
MEDFORD, Ore. — Just one day after pleading guilty to rape charges in Josephine County court, a Cave Junction man pleaded guilty for a separate rape case in Jackson County on Friday. According to the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office, 45-year-old Kristopher Patton first came under investigation in July of 2019 from Oregon State Police and the Southern Oregon High Tech Crimes Task Force. That month a victim came forward in Josephine County, telling a family member that Patton had sexually abused her the night before. The admission prompted another family member to come forward, who told police that she…
Officers with the Medford Police Department arrested the suspect in a violent carjacking outside of Dairy Queen on Wednesday evening, according to a statement from the agency. Police responded to the Dairy Queen on Morrow Road shortly before 6:30 p.m. after a man reported that his car had been stolen following an assault. The 55-year-old victim had been sitting in his 2007 Chevy Trailblazer and eating food. According to MPD, a man was walking around the parking lot, approaching people in cars and asking for money. When the man came up to the door of the Chevy, he reportedly opened…
Authorities in southwest Washington are searching for a missing 45-year-old Sherwood, Oregon man that has not been seen or heard from by friends or family since December 10. Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office and Sherwood PD are asking for the public’s help in finding William “Bill” Meredith after he failed to show up for work in Ocean Park, Washington. Authorities say Meredith left a job site on December 10 with plans to go fishing on the Kalama River. Meredith was driving a white 1999 Toyota 4Runner with Oregon plates 564BMS. He is describes as a white male, approximately 6’0″, between 180…
The Oregon Department of Human Services will take the lead role of housing those displaced by the Almeda and Obenchain Fires. This comes as the Red Cross’ contract is set to expire on December 31st. Although fire victims will have a new primary contact, Jackson County officials say everything else will remain the same. This means people can continue staying in their hotel rooms. “They are going to be cared for in a fashion that if this is delivered in the way that we hope it is, and the way that the state has assured us it will be, the…